What this guide covers
The real sequence from name check to filing the articles, appointing the registered agent and obtaining tax identifiers. What the state asks, what it does not, and what remains once the number is issued, because a registered company is not yet a company that can invoice.
What exists
The name check
The name must be distinct from those already registered. The sunbiz.org database is public and searchable before any filing: it is the first check to run, and it is free.
The registered agent
A physical Florida address, not a PO box, where the state and the courts can serve documents. The founder can be their own if resident; otherwise companies provide the service. It is a permanent obligation, not a one-time step at setup.
The articles
“Articles of Organization” for an LLC, “Articles of Incorporation” for a corporation. Filed online on sunbiz.org, they become public: the names on them are visible to anyone.
The annual report
Filed each year between January and May 1. Missing it triggers a penalty, and continuing to miss it leads to administrative dissolution of the company.
What surprises people arriving from Europe or Quebec
Registration is fast and cheap compared with France, often a few days, online, with no notary and no minimum capital. That ease misleads: it suggests the hard part is done, when the obligations that follow (tax identifier, local licenses, sales tax, insurance) are longer and more decisive than the filing itself.
Where it gets complicated
The annual report is the most ordinary thing to trip on. No paper reminder arrives, the contact address is the registered agent’s, and a founder who changed provider without updating their details learns of the dissolution while trying to open an account.
Official sources
- Florida Division of Corporations, sunbiz.org
- Sunbiz, entity and name search
- Florida Department of State, annual report
What French Executive Network can do
Introduce you to the French-speaking business lawyers, accountants and tax advisers in the network who handle this subject, and to the members who have already been through it.